The American government should fight against drug addiction, not drug cartels, to win the illegal drugs warfare. According to the description in The Oriental Institute Museum, this sculpture is originated during the 5th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, reigns of Menkauhor and Unis (ca. 2466-2400 B.C.). This sculpture was found and rescued by the Egypt Exploration Fund—Today it is known as the Egypt Exploration Society—in the tomb of Nenkhefetka, Deshasha, Egypt. The sculptor's name appears to be unknown; however, the sculpture's name, given by its discoverers, is Man and Wife in Traditional Clothes. Egyptian sculptures of this kind don't have any particular feature that would differentiate them among themselves. The sculpture Man and Wife in Traditional Clothes possesses many, if not all, of the characteristics contemporary to Ancient Egyptian art. First, this sculpture stands inactive, with no intend of motion, and very rigid posture. The position of the characters is basically the style used back in the days: figures very closed to each other, hands tight to the body, flat feet to the ground and heads looking to the horizon. Second, the sculpture has a realistic parameter, yet it has some idealized features such as enlarged heads and eyes—characteristic of the period. Third, I would say that this sculpture approaches to naturalistic standards. The sculpture illustrates some presence of muscle in the male body and a clear depiction of the difference in skin tone between genders. However, it has some stylized details such as the elaborated wigs and the fall of the clothing on their bodies that would affirm the contrary. Although this piece of art is a sculpture, it reveals its whole content in a two-dimensional perspective. Any ang... ... middle of paper ... ...culpture does not represent somebody or something, we could conclude that the sculptor preferred to do candid works. This may seem somewhat contradictory to the sculpture itself because of its static and centered position, but since this piece comes from the earliest samples of Ancient Egyptian art, we could bend the standards in some way and arrive to this conclusion. Finally, what got my attention to this sculpture was the humanism involved that reminds me that we, as human-beings, have had the same ideas and values since the beginning of our race on Earth. This sculpture represented, represents and will represent the reason humans take time to make art: because we want to capture in a picture all of our essence and passion. For some people the Man and Wife in Traditional Clothes may seem as Ancient-Egypt art, but for me it is a reflection of ourselves in the past.
Looking at this Palette, it isn’t hard to see how the old Egyptian subjects were so entranced by their leaders and how that compares to our modern viewpoints. Where we view politicians and leaders as a wiry group, always keeping an eye on them lest today be the day they raise their daggers against us, the ancient Egyptians saw their leaders as infallible, godlike beings to be trusted, obeyed, and adored. Standing just over 2 feet tall and 1.4 feet wide, this Palette was carved out of a majestic shade of grey-green siltstone, almost shield-like in appearance. Both sides are exquisitely carved out, each one uniquely decorated but both sides containing a central serekh used to identify and in this case even confirm the subject as royalty. This serekh contains the symbols n’r and mr, which as you may have noticed, phonetically spell Narmer. These symbols are surrounded by two bovine heads, which could either represent the Goddess Hathor or Bat. The front s...
The Ancient Egyptian sculpture, “Statue of Nykara and His Family”, was sculpted during the late fifth dynasty. The sculpture is a depiction of Nykara, his wife, Nubkau, and son, Ankhma-Re. The statue is in poor condition with pieces of limestone missing and chips on the three subject’s faces and bodies. The painted limestone shows the conventional colors for the male and female subjects. There is a clear discoloration among Nykara and his son’s bodies. The brownish red color they once were has eroded to a light yellowish color, which resembles the purposeful color of Nykara’s wife. The hieroglyphs on Nykara’s seat insinuate that the sculpture is meant to be viewed from the front view. This is also evident by the way the three subjects are facing forward in frontal view. There are hieroglyphs on both the chair and base of the statue near Nykara’s wife and son’s feet.
First, the portrait of Menkaure and a Queen was made in the Old Kingdom Egypt. The two figures are locked in place together in the frontal poses. They can be viewed from the front and the sides, but the back is flat and has no carved details. Although they do not stand in composite pose, their proportions are following the Egyptian canon. Thus, they have athletic bodies which are idealized from the shoulders to the waist to the hips. They were made to be the perfect symbol of human beings at that time to Egyptians’ belief. For this sculpture portray a royal family in a formal state, the two figures do not have face
The art represented more than just sculpture. The art represented the social issue of racism by not having “black art” in a “white museum”. History shows us that black or African-American people have had a hard time fitting into this society because of the older days were black people were considered to be inferior to the “white
These two statues are famous to the Egyptian art era. They represent the woman’s position and the man’s position at that day and age. Traditionally, the rulers of Egypt were male. So, when Hatshepsut, Dynasty 18, ca. 1473-1458 B.C., assumed the titles and functions of king she was portrayed in royal male costumes. Such representations were more for a political statement, rather than a reflection of the way she actually looked. In this sculpture, she sits upon a throne and wears the royal kilt and the striped nemes (NEM-iss) headdress with the uraeus (cobra) and is bare chested like a man. However, she does not wear the royal beard, and the proportions of her body are delicate and feminine.
The pharaoh named Khafre was an ancient Egyptian king of the 4th dynasty during the old kingdom. Khafre enthroned shows the pharaoh is shown in a seated potion on a throne with a look of deep serenity in his face. The king is sitting rigidly upright with one of his hands on his knee and the other one making a fist on his thigh. Khafre is also wearing a headdress as well as a strapped on beard. Khafres’ face and body are both idealized with the help of bilateral symmetry. Khafre is perfectly symmetrical on both sides; his pose is also both frontal and ridged. The Sculptor shows all movement, however, still showing eternal stillness (Kleiner, 2013). The statue of Khafre is an image of unbridled power. This work, life-sized and carved from diorite (an extremely hard and difficult-to-work stone) portrays the Pharaoh Khafre, sitting immobile. This piece of art uses the Egyptian canon of proportions, creating a very idealized figure (Kleiner,
The New Kingdom in ancient Egypt, from 1550 – 1070 BC, was a time of extraordinary wealth, power, and the continuation of the arts in the classic ancient Egyptian style. Characterized by the abstract and impersonal depiction of humans, along with the strength of the Egyptian Empire, the New Kingdom is considered the peak of power and prosperity in ancient Egypt. “Fragmentary lid from the coffin of Wadj-shemsi-su” is a piece created in this time period that was originally part of a portrait located on the top of the king’s coffin. Because the coffin would carry the king’s mummified body in his tomb, the portrait depicts the pharaoh as being prepared for the Underworld, as well as being the ideal body for the spirit of the king to flow through. The objective of the coffin’s portrait is also to convey the power of the kingdom, putting emphasis on the king’s image and the immense wealth that accompanies him. In addition to the piece’s function as a coffin, “Fragmentary lid from the coffin of Wadj-shemsi-su” embodies the strength and wealth of the New Kingdom through the piece’s human face, use of bright colors, and geometric detailing.
The medium is Granodiorite and the technique used was sunken relief, which is a technique were the sculptor chisels deep outlines below the stone’s surface. The sculpture does not seem to be originally painted. The Egyptians created coloristic effects through contrasting shadows and highlights. They used natural pigments to color some sculptures, however this was not the case. There are deeply cut areas in the back of the statue that create deep shadows and the use of natural light helps to bring up the highlights. The granodiorite has natural colors that helped the sculptor show more of those shadows and highlights. The statue is mostly in a warm hue and it may be caused because of the lighting inside the museum. These warm colors make the details stand out more. At a closer look of the structure there are different colors that can be easily identified, such as white, yellow, brown, black, gray and small spots of orange. The statues seems to be carved in one piece. There are no signs indicating it
Egyptian art is infamous across the world - classified by the monumental pyramids, and the Sphinx. Although these are both valid forms of Egyptian art, they do not make up the entire artistic history of the country. On the contrary, perhaps the most replicated example of classic Egyptian art, from the Old Kingdom, can be found in their rendering of the human form. An interest in portraiture developed early in Egypt. (Gardner, 75) Whether painted on pottery, or cut into rock, the figures all had notably Egyptian characteristics. "The seated statue is one of only a very small number of basic formulaic types employed by the sculptors of the Old Kingdom." (Gardner, 75)
Both of these pieces of art have much in common. Their functions are almost identical. Both were used to mark burial sites and to honor the deceased buried there. The body language of both the pieces’ figures are similar, with one seated and several others standing around them. Neither has color, but unlike the grave stele, the funerary banquet does show some degree of emotion. The figures in the banquet scene have slight smiles. These pieces played an important role in their times, honoring those who had passed on to the afterlife. For both of these people, it was important to memorialize them very similar to our practices today.
The Palette of Narmer was created on a flat stone surface; the artists then carved the story into the flat stone in a very specific manor. This palette is known for representing the coming together of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt (Stokstad and Cothren, 52). At the top of the palette on both sides shows two bulls that were said to possibly represent the goddess Hathor. Hathor was known as the goddess of protection, and is depicted in other Egyptian art as a woman with cow ears (British Museum, no page). In between the heads of Hathor is the name of the King Narmer, written with iconography called serekh. In this serekh, one can see the Horus falcon head and below it is the name of the king. The falcon head is said to protect the Egyptian ruler (Kinnaer). Although this is just one small piece of the top of the palette, it already starts to depict an enormous part of history in Egypt.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ‘Egyptian Art’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Art. New Series, Vol. 41, No. 3, Egyptian Art (Winter, 1983-1984): pp. 1+3-56
Let’s begin with what was going on during the time period for each sculpture. During the 2458-2446 BCE. Userkaf was thriving over his brother Sahure, and he became the new ruler of Egypt. In the start of 2446 BCE, Neferirkare beings his dominant over Egypt. King Sahure and Nome God is a high relief it is still attached to a surface of a stone. The Pharaoh sitting on his thorn wearing a Nemes headdress (it is usually blue and gold striped), fake beard. The king has an emotionless facial expression. It was made for a decoration for the king pyramid complex. The symbol behind this statue could be the gathering of the Nome gods form Upper and Lower Egypt around t...
Both statues are double portrait with two figures standing side by side. They are joined together to create one single unit with a frontal pose. Both statues are reliefs that are united to their wife as a symbolic gesture of embrace. Yuny and Renenutet medium is limestone and paint, meanwhile Menkaure and his wife medium is greywacke. Menkaure and his wife is wearing a royal traditional custom emphasizing power through headdress, beard, and royal knit. However, Yuny and Renenutet is wearing a less traditional custom, but more fashionable emphasizing the importance and power through head gear and clothing only. Individually Yuny and Renenutet and Menkaure and his wife has many similarities and
When carving statues, artists drew guidelines on all sides of the uncarved stone, paying close attention to the horizontal and vertical axes (Watts & Girsh 38). Instead of carving statues fully in the round, many artists opted to leave the main figure(s) connected to its base to support its own weight. Shown here (Fig. 4), is an example of the tradition style of figure statuary; the Pharaoh and his wife are stiff and rigid, showing to their people that their legacy will live on, unmoving, throughout the ages. Under the reign of Akhenaten, many of these traditional ________________________ Egyptian artistic values were cast away in favor of those that portrayed the royal family in a jarring, grotesque way.